Check in...

Most of us enjoy distractions while we work out.  We like to listen to music or watch videos while we do our cardio.  We chat with our friends or our classmates or our trainer about any number of things from celebrity gossip to pets to best recipes to the antics of that crazy person at work (Wait!  At my work, that’s me!!!!).  Most of the time this is a good thing.  I mean, I personally would rather repeat calculus than have to spend my spin time without loud music—it would be both easier and less boring.

Sometimes, though, we need to stop the external chatter and focus.  We do it naturally when we learn a new exercise.  It takes attention to direct the body into different motion.  Even if we are familiar with a movement, we occasionally need to tune in to refine what we’re doing.  Data needs to flow both directions, from the brain to the body and back.

Maybe we are unconsciously babying the ankle we twisted a little stepping off a curb.  Maybe we slept funny and our neck is tweaking left a little, propagating a tweak down the body.  Maybe our knee has a mind of its own, always tending a little inward if we aren’t constantly encouraging it to stay in line.  A bit of a check-in usually does the trick to get us into alignment.

Then we can turn the music back up and rock out.